The car was parked outside, and everyone carried the equipment into the secret base to begin the pre-battle meeting.
"We have two missions. First, disguise ourselves as wanderers and infiltrate Crow Forest Town to gather intelligence. Second, find any lone Germinal Sentinels nearby and interrogate them for details about Dark Crow Valley Base."
Wenna immediately said, "We'll deal with the sentries, your men go to Crow Forest."
Di Susu frowned. There was a high possibility that spies were hiding in Crow Forest Town. Infiltrating there would risk being Germinal, which would be like being surrounded and unlikely to yield any results. On the other hand, it would be easier to gain merit by finding the sentries and interrogating them for information, and it would also be safer.
The Hesla people were so eager to throw the dangerous and difficult task to the Thirteenth Bureau Thirteenth Bureau that they were dissatisfied with their attitude. However, the task still needed to be done, and it was either them or the others, so no one objected.
Qi Baijia said, "To infiltrate Crow Forest Town, you first need to disguise yourself as a wanderer, then find an opportunity to quietly gather information, and be extremely careful not to alert them..."
After discussion, the group decided that some people would stay at the base to provide backup. Four people remained: Lin Yao, Qi Baijia, Ma Qingyang, and Han Xiao.
On the other side, Hesla also left a few people to guard the stronghold, and Han Xiao only recognized Ye Fan among them.
It was afternoon, Hesla's men decided to rest first and set off again at dawn to search for outposts, when the enemy would be most relaxed. They were equipped with thermal imagers, and the darkness was advantageous to them. They also had the ulterior motive of having the Thirteenth Bureau scout ahead first.
With the plan finalized, the Thirteenth Bureau agents who decided to infiltrate were mixed into a team, with Di Susu as the captain. One by one, they changed into the appearance of weary wanderers, hunched over, looking as if their backs were bent by invisible pressure. The disguise was very convincing. Carrying huge packs, they set off on foot for Crow Forest.
The secret base was equipped with many computer screens, connected to the agents' screens and headsets. Han Xiao, Lin Yao, and Qi Baijia took turns keeping watch.
Before long, Di Susu and the others arrived at Crow Forest Town. The scene showed a small town settlement with all kinds of buildings. Although the houses were simple and small, the town was densely populated, like a market. The town covered a large area and had everything it needed, and there were even inns open to welcome guests.
"Let's find a place to stay first."
Di Susu and her companions were questioned by the locals, but she answered fluently, pretending to be a group of migrating wanderers who happened to be passing by and hoped to rest for a few days. After escaping the questioning, she checked into a hotel in the town.
Upon entering the room, everyone immediately put their professionalism to use, checking for surveillance cameras and listening devices. After quickly confirming that everything was safe, they began to discuss the next steps.
"What should we do next?" Li Yalin pouted, giving Di Susu a cold look.
Di Susu was in no mood to tease Li Yalin. Resting her chin on her hand, she frowned and said seriously, "Our identities are questionable; it's best to hold back for now."
Han Xiao suddenly said into the earpiece, "You'd better make your move tonight."
"Reason?" Di Susu raised her eyebrows slightly.
"You are now a group of outsiders wandering around. Playing your current role and finding out about the local situation is the normal thing to do. If you deliberately hide, it will be abnormal and easily expose that you have ulterior motives."
"That seems to make sense." The group exchanged glances.
"... Do as Han Xiao says."
The town has entertainment facilities, including small casinos, psychotropic drugstores, restaurants, and places to satisfy sexual needs. At night, people would go out in twos and threes, pretending to spend money normally, gathering information and collecting data, but they didn't find anything substantial. Most of the residents here were just normal wanderers, and no suspicious targets were found.
Qi Baijia's expression was grave. "The other party is hiding too well; it's unlikely we'll gain anything."
"That's not necessarily true." Han Xiao smiled. He knew that Crow Forest Town had special Germinal spies. After players completed tasks and increased their favorability, they could choose to join the Germinal faction. As long as they captured the NPC, they could get a lot of information out of him.
Han Xiao knew the exact location of the Dark Crow Valley Base, but he didn't know the specific military forces involved. This was too detailed; more than ten years had passed, and he only had a vague impression of such minor details. Moreover, the timeline was different now, and Han Xiao wasn't sure if anything had changed, so gathering intelligence was essential.
"Go to the south side of town, there's a casino there. There should be a bald man inside; that person knows about the Dark Crow Valley Base." The person Han Xiao was referring to was Germinal's spy in Crow Forest. Players born in Crow Forest can only join Germinal through him.
Everyone was taken aback. Di Susu frowned and asked, "Where did you get this information from?"
"I naturally have the channels."
"What if the intelligence is wrong?" Di Susu persisted.
"Listen to him," Qi Baijia interjected. Before they left, his superior had instructed him to trust Han Xiao, which showed that the higher-ups valued Han Xiao.
Di Susu had no choice but to suppress her doubts and follow orders. She led her men to the small casino in the south to investigate. Sure enough, they found a bald man who was the casino's owner.
"What should we do now? If we act rashly, we might alert him, as there might be his accomplices nearby," Di Susu asked.
Han Xiao said helplessly, "You've already found the person, and you're still asking me what to do? Can't you at least show some professionalism?"
Di Susu felt a tightness in her chest, so angry she couldn't speak. But she realized she had asked a stupid question, snorted angrily, and called to her teammates to secretly surround them.
Han Xiao glanced at the time, got up to switch Lin Yao's night shift. He didn't need to oversee the specific operations himself; if something went wrong with this, the secret service agents might as well buy a block of tofu and kill themselves.
At the same time, Wenna set off with the Hesla agents, not forgetting to glare fiercely at Han Xiao before leaving.
Han Xiao didn't plan to stay at the base to rest. He walked out of the base, returned to Big Black's cargo compartment, and pondered silently.
Both Reconnaissance missions are team missions and should be completed without any unexpected issues. Therefore, I should focus on my individual mission. If I want to assassinate sentries in the dense forest, I will need some tools.
Han Xiao took out the parts and focused his attention on the control panel.
[Whether to perform knowledge fusion (Basic Wide-Area Sensing + Basic Bionics + Basic Mechanical Engineering), this fusion will consume 15,000 experience points.]
[Congratulations on developing the [Miniature Arthropod Biological Detector (Spider)]!]
Wearing night vision goggles and camouflage suits, Wenna and her group stealthily moved through the mountains and forests, their movements silent, like hunters in the dark forest searching for their prey.
The sentries can only be found near the Dark Crow Valley Base. One of the team members is a master tracker who can deduce the road conditions from the previous day from the slightest clues in the forest.
The master tracker, named Magnu, was a burly Shanu, his physique resembling a small mountain. Few would imagine him to be such a meticulous person. He rubbed some soil, smelled it, closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Seven hours ago, a man, weighing approximately 180 pounds, heading southwest."
Wenna had no doubt about Magnu's judgment. She led her people over cautiously, but suddenly stopped. The thermal imager showed that a life form was crouching in a tree 300 meters away.
"Check the surroundings!"
Wenna remained calm and did not act rashly. She had her teammates check the vicinity for any hidden sentries or surveillance cameras. After a thorough check lasting twenty minutes, they confirmed that everything was safe.
"Take him down!" Ye Fan ordered over the communicator.
Wenna suddenly sprang into action, a dark red aura flashing beneath her feet. With incredibly fast yet silent steps, she rapidly closed the distance to within a hundred meters of the sentry, using the trees as cover to conceal her figure, constantly hiding in the enemy's blind spots, like a master assassin. She nimbly leaped onto a tree, her palms glowing with a dark red light, clinging to the trunk like an octopus's grinding wheel, using this to continuously leap and minimize the sound of the wind as she approached her opponent in mid-air.
The Germinal sentinel suddenly felt a gust of wind brush past his head. Looking up, a dark shadow rapidly expanded in his retina!